A new Buddy Guys is up! “Horoscope”, in which the new Zodiac sign makes Shyam Valera question his entire life. 

Enjoy! And please reblog/share the sketch if you like it :)

A lot of people like to drink the Haterade when it comes to being critical of the US, and I’m no exception. But something I’ve been feeling over the past couple of years is an increasing level of discomfort with how we do things in Canada. From the environment to foreign policy to First Nations Affairs, we’re not exactly a model country in every way. Blame it on the democratically elected Harper government if you’d like, but we have at least as much responsibility for actions that are taken on our behalf as the publics of America, England, Saudi Arabia, and the rest of the world. More, in fact, because we’re a democracy, and, our relatively low population means we have more responsibility per capita than perhaps anyone else in the world*

The Albertan Tar Sands are one such issue. I’m shamefully ignorant of the whole situation, but this documentary by Leslie Iwerks (The Pixar Touch) looks like it might have a lot to say on the matter, and I’m pretty sure we still have time to help the issue.

How? I might not have the best answers for that: simply using less oil (we all have that ability), making the idea of not being re-elected a very real issue in the minds of our politicians, creating art to address the harms such projects cause, and withdrawing support from companies that invest in activities we don’t agree with (Royal Bank, for example, is the main financier of the tar sand projects) are good starts. 

Back to the trailer at hand, the vibe I get is that it focuses more on the American side of the issue, and fair enough: it’s an American film. But I’m sure there’s an NFB film or two on the subject for Canucks— even if you’re on the purely financial side of the issue, I think we’d be better positioned as the global centre of clean energy in the long term rather than exploit the land for short term profit.

I know that most of the people working on projects like this; the engineers, bankers, drivers, etc., are probably doing the best they can to have the smallest impact on the land. Without our support, however, and without us giving them the money to make this the best option for them to put food on their tables and turn a profit, they can’t really change everything for the better. 

*not a researched fact